


Naruto: The Hidden Star

by gemctf2



Series: Incomplete stories [16]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood, Brother-Sister Relationships, Canon Compliant, Character Death, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Family Secrets, Gen, Love Triangles, Memory Alteration, No Incest, Not Romantic-Centric, Orphans, Shinobi, So many triangles, Teacher-Student Relationship, They make a star
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-06-17 01:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemctf2/pseuds/gemctf2
Summary: (Rewrite of Ann Shippuden)The story has been in hiatus for so long I forgot the original plotline lolMemories are a such a fickle thing aren't they? People forget, remember, think and yet no matter how hard they try to find something, it will not matter unless what they are finding for has great significance in that memory...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ann Shippuden](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3263390) by [gemctf2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemctf2/pseuds/gemctf2). 



_Twinkle Twinkle little star_  
_How I wonder what you are_  
_Up above the world so high_  
_Like a diamond in the sky..._

"Say what are we learning today?" Naruto asks Jiraiya as they walk into a town as the sunset glimmer behind them." Well, let's relax for the day shall we? We've been training non-stop for the past month," Jiraiya sighs as he chooses the inn for the day." I heard there is a carnvial here today, so why don't you have some fun?" He asks.

Naruto narrows his eyes," Sure but this time I'm keeping all of my money," he replies.

"Ha, well you're older now aren't ya? I'm sure you'll spend your own savings wisely," he grins.

It has been two years since they left konoha, in a few months, he'll have to go back. He wonders what his friends are doing during these 2 years and don't really know whether to be happy or sad that his training is coming to an end.

He drops his bag onto the bed and goes around the village while Jiraiya makes himself comfortable.

* * *

Shadows zips pass trees and bushes as if a bunch of people are chasing after one. The one running away looks back before making a head sign of a shadow clone and two of them make their seperate ways, one into more trees, the other dashes to a town with festival lights decorating the street.

"Hm mm," Naruto mutters as he tries to find a stall he really wants to go to. That is until a hand taps his shoulder." Yes?" Naruto asks, a long black hair woman with black eyes shyly shuffles, reminding him of a certain Hyuuga." Um... may I ask if you've seen something that resembles a star here?" She asks.

"Uh... no sorry," Naruto replies, he just entered the town anyway, but then something else crosses his mind as he felt like he met the woman before." Thank you," she replies sadly and walks away." Hey big sister?" Naruto asks, the woman turns to tilt her head at him.

"Have we met before?" He asks, face turning into concentration." No... I don't think so," she smiles," Somewhere in the streets maybe," she adds and waves him goodbye. Naruto grins and continues looking through the stalls.

Meanwhile a group of girls are also asking around. Naruto scratches his head and goes to a nearby stall to buy at least a snack while looking around.

"Have you seen a raven haired woman around here? Average height, great physique, raven eyes too?" One of the shortest, unnaturally blue hair tied in two cute pony tail asks. The guy they were asking at a food stall shakes his head, Naruto swallows.

_What are they doing? Playing treasure hunting? But it's possible that they are enemies, bumped into many during our travels... but this is kind of confusing, who is the enemy?_

"Hello there," a female voice called at his direction. Naruto deadpans and looks to his side in a hesitant expression." Don't worry we're not anyone suspicious," this time it's a tall teenage girl, if he hadn't love Sakura-chan he might have fallen for this fiesty red chick." We're just looking for a friend you see, she is so stuck into treasure hunting," she winks.

"Um... I've seen someone who asked me if I saw anything shiny," Naruto replies, happy to know that his first guess was correct." She went that way," he points to where the lady went." Thank you little boy," she beams and follows her friends out.

 _Hey! I'm not that little!_ Naruto fumes internally.

* * *

The raven haired girl is walking around trying to find something, she then looks at the game stalls and saw a target with a red star in the middle. Her expression turns very happy as she gave the stall owner a dollar and started throwing the darts. All of them hits onto the centre as impossible as it seems.

"W-woah," the stall owner mutters," W-well, pick your prize," he replies." Can I have the target?" She asks." Eh?!" The stall owner exclaims.

That is when the group of girls found her.

"Naru!" The smallest one exclaims. Naru looks at them with wide eyes and quickly tosses the darts she took out aside and runs pass the crowd, leaving behind a confused stall owner and a group of determined looking girls.

Naru manages to squeeze out of the crowd and run straight into the forest. With the group of girls tailing her. She quickly jumps from the ground and lands on branch to branch. But the girls started shooting kunais and shurikens at her at many directions, one is bound to hit her.

Before the hit could land though, Naruto appears and knock the shuriken away.

"You!" The tallest one exclaims." Who the hell are you?" Naruto demands." This is none of your business boy! Get out of the way!" The tallest one throws a few shurikens and makes a few hand seals.  _Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!_ Naruto eyes widen as the shuriken multiplies and he tries to block and dodge all of them.  _Huh? Isn't that gramp's technique?_ He quickly tries to catch up with the pursued only to find her missing.

"Great! We lost her!" One of them exclaims," Boy! You're going to regret that," another girl grumbles as she makes a few hand signs too  _Water Style: vortex bullet_ the attack almost hits Naruto as he disappears behind a bush. They chase after him, thinking that he went ahead but in actuality he is behind them, with Naru.

"Thank you for your assistance," she replies as they are far enough for them to safely speak." What was that just now?" He asks." Genjutsu," Naru beams and helps him up." Why were they chasing after you?" Naruto asks. Naru looks surprise a moment before smiling," I have something they want you see, but don't worry, there is a reason why I allowed them to chase me," Naru replies.

"I see," Naruto replies," Do you need help going back? I can protect you," he beams. Naru grins," There's no need, I live near here anyway," she replies," may we meet again," she adds politely and leaves. Naruto's smile didn't go away after having done the good deed and walks ahead without looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You don't have to read Ann Shippuden btw maybe you can make comparisons but it's not neccessary to understand the plot
> 
> You just need to know Naruto XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I've watched Naruto Shippuden multiple times and slowly going to Boruto, I managed to make it as canon compliant as possible, meaning I'm trying to make it more of a side arc or filler
> 
> So a few changes from Ann Shippuden, I've changed Ann's age, Miyuki' name to Maya, Naru's powers, Ichigo's backstory and changed Ran to Ryozo
> 
> I might have changed star style too but that is a surprise for later, I've made the canon characters less OOC as possible, any feedback/help/critism is greatly appreciated

Jiraiya looks at the stack of papers on the table as if it just bit him. Naruto crashes onto the bed with a sigh, already out of his outfit and into his pyjamas.

"Kid, did you talk to anyone in the festival?" He asks with innocence in the question." Hm? Yeah I did, just a few kids," he replies. Jiraiya looks at the heap of yellow and sighs internally. _Just when I thought I can relax, something had to come up_... he writes down a page before folding it up into an aeroplane after a little few attempts and throws it out.

The aeroplane flies into the air but seemingly not landing at all...

* * *

"I got a few things to do, I need you to stay here and enjoy the last days of relaxation, because after this we'll be doing intense training!" Jiraiya exclaims." Alright!" Naruto exclaims in enthusiasm and he leaves, Naruto looks at the streets below as Jiraiya body flickers away.

He then notices the woman from yesterday in the street,  _that's... hmm there is something different about that woman..._ Naruto goes to follow her.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya is in a thick forest, he takes out a scroll with the word 鳥 (Bird) and bit his finger and did the signs for the summoning.  _Summoning Jutsu!_ only little smoke covered the ground and a not so ordinary bird appears, if anybody could recognise it, it is a rare phoenix.

"Oh Jiraiya-dono, I take it that you want me to expand," Phoenix replies, looking at the sky. Jiraiya nods," I'm counting on you," he replies, the Phoenix nods and grows but keeping his head low as Jiraiya climbs on his back." Have you been eating properly? You feel lighter than usual," he asks as he steadies himself to take flight.

"I've been training," Jiraiya replies, hugging Phoenix's neck and he spread his wings and zip all the way to the clouds.

* * *

Naruto tilts his head as he follows her towards a bookshop, he hides outside, waiting for her to come out. After a few seconds, a suspicious hooded figure casually walks in. Naruto frowns and goes in after waiting a few more seconds.

He first sees the cashier, a bald man with his newspaper open is sitting there.

"Uh Mister, did you see anyone suspicious enter here?" He asks. The man closes his newspaper but what surprised him is the pitch of the voice afterwards." Hey! Old men aren't the only ones who read the newspaper!" He or well, she exclaims.

"You're a kid?! Some more a girl?!" Naruto exclaims," How rude! I bet you're one of those kids who never read and think you're cool!" She exclaims." No no no," Naruto sweat drops," Sorry but this is important! Your shop might be in danger!" Naruto exclaims.

"Tch, the only danger is the festival, blocking my business!" She huffs." Besides no one came through here kid, it's still early in the morning," she grumbles.

"No way! I saw two people here!" Naruto exclaims, unbeknownst to him, he is being watched." N-no... you're just seeing things, it's none of your business!" The girl exclaims," If you know what is best for you, you forget what you just saw!" She exclaims." Isuna," Naru reveals herself," that's enough," she adds.

"Sensei, why did you reveal yourself?" She asks. Naru smiles," I know this boy," she replies." What brings you here again?" She asks Naruto." Well I'm staying in this town for a while longer," Naruto explains," But why are you here again? They could find you," he replies.

"S-sensei?" Isuna asks. Naru shuffles sheepishly," It was a bad idea for me to take that mission but I wanted to prove myself," she replies," I guess I failed." Naruto tilts his head," But you've defended the thing successfully right?" He asks." Yeah but it was supposed to be a secret," Isuna sighs." Mm that explains why you don't have headbands even when you're shinobi," Naruto mutters.

"Oi kid, you're smarter than you look," Isuna teases, Naruto deadpans at that. Naru smiles," But I think we can trust you, for someone as bright as you to be a shinobi too... must be tough," she adds as if she knew about that. Naruto shook his head," I want to be strong and take on many hardships! Because I want to be Hokage someday!" Naruto exclaims.

Naru eyes widen, Isuna frowns," Hokage... you mean..." Isuna replies in realisation.  _No wonder..._ Naru thinks, another figure is looking at them in the shadows.

* * *

"You sent me?" Jiraiya asks as he stood in a huge hall with a throne in front of him." I didn't but Ann thought is was necessary," the lady on the throne has dark pink, long wavy hair with pink eyes which may look a little too unusual to others but Jiraiya seem to know her.

"And you still trust her? Your majesty?" He asks cautiously. The queen smiles gently," I had never meant to betray her trust, I'm surprised that she stayed at all, but now that I hold the seat I won't harm my comrades," she replies.

"And it's Maya," she beams, Jiraiya returns the smile," Thank you, it is hard to hide her without suppressing her chakra and presence, which is unhealthy," he replies." I understand," Maya adds," In this village there is no need to hide as the gods protect everyone here," she replies." You're always welcome here Jiraiya-san," she adds. Jiraiya sighs," I have a prophecy to fulfill, so I can't stay," he replies," so, you want them gone?" He asks.

"No, they'll be useful to us, but I don't want to lose manpower just to capture just two people, so do as you see fit," she replies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be every 1 week or 7 days I may update earlier like for this chapter when I am very free
> 
> Naru is 23  
> Isuna is 15
> 
> Though they haven't exactly appear yet these are my OC's ages
> 
> Ichigo: 35  
> Ann: 26  
> Ryozo: 20
> 
> And here is the kid's age
> 
> Naruto: 15  
> Isuna: 12  
> The Queen/Maya: 24

"This is..." Naruto mutters," H-hey Naru-sensei, are you sure this is a good idea?" Isuna asks." Yup, it's completely safe," she replies," pun not intended," she grins. Isuna groans as they walk into a brightly lit street.

"Wasn't it morning a few seconds ago?" Naruto asks as he looks at the night sky." Night is longer here than it is on the outside," Naru explains," the residence here loves the night, they would have made it all night if not for the sunlight needed to grow crops," she adds.

"What is this place?" Naruto asks," It's the hidden galaxy village," she replies." Hidden galaxy?" Naruto asks, Isuna panics," should we be telling this to an outsider?!" Naruto frowns at that," It's fine, I'm sure they would be ok with this," Naru replies, sounding a little uneasy.

"They?" Naruto asks," That's S-class information, so don't ask," Isuna replies quickly," And sensei! Don't answer that question!"

Naru chuckles," Of course not," she replies as they walk ahead.

The streets are filled with buzzing stalls, shops and people but it doesn't seem cramped at all and the street seems very spacious. Naruto looks around in awe, finally, a street that didn't look at him all weird.  _Huh? Where did that come from?_ Naruto is suddenly at the kyuubi's cage.

 _ **Go away**_ Naruto looks up in surprise, he recognize the voice as the Kyuubi's but the tone of it sounds... wrong.

"Kid?" Isuna's voice snapped him out of his trance." Oh yeah why do I keep calling you kid? What is your name anyway?" she asks." Naruto," he replies, Naru's shoulders stiffen a little. The figure listening shifting at that answer.

"Isn't that part of Narutomaki? Who gave you the name anyway?" Isuna teases, Naruto blushes," I-I don't know ok?" He mutters." I never grew up with my parents," he replies, Naru's face soften at that and the figure disappears." Must be lonely," Isuna replies solemnly, Naruto looks at them in surprise, normally others just shrug it off... but maybe it's because they don't know what is inside him...

"But it's fine," Naruto grins," I have a lot of friends anyway," he replies." Friends are good," Naru adds nostalgically, they continue to walk through the streets with a comfortable silence between them.

* * *

"Now, they were last seen here..." Jiraiya mutters looking around in a river bank. He bends down as if to drink some water only to dodge a kunai thrown at him. He bit his thumb and did a few hand signs.  _Summoning Jutsu!_ and a toad appears and Jiraiya pats his head, prompting it to open its mouth and shoot it's tongue to the attacker.

"Ack!" A female lands onto her chest in front of the hermit." Ow ow ow ow," she rubs her abdomen, in a way that is sexy, prompting a flustered and excited Jiraiya." What was that for?" She asks with a pout, Jiraiya shook his head," Ah I might be mistaken," he replies hitting the frog on the head and it disappears.

"I just thought someone attacked me," he replies." I can't believe that this is the famous master Jiraiya," that was his only warning when a sea of flames chases after him. He yelps and jumps into the lake, he quickly seat up only to face with more women. His face pales as they start beating him up.

Until a blast of water hits the girls across the lake. Jiraiya looks at the figure who saves him with a broken nose as the hooded figure lands between him and the women at the other side.

"Why does the women with that perfect shape are always out to get me?" Jiraiya whines," That's because that's what kunoichis are supposed to be," a female voice replies from behind the hood. The group stands up in a messy huff," Who the hell are you?" One of them asks.

"..." the hooded figure sighs and did a few hand signs,  _Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears_ "Kya!" Smoke covers the group as spikes of earth shoots at them. The hooded figure then looks at Jiraiya," Are you alright?" She asks. But then a girl leaps behind the figure and aims to attack her with a kunai when the figure disappears into smoke and a few words appear underneath Jiraiya.

 _Summoning Jutsu!_ a white horse with wings and a horn appears from the smoke and dodges the attack with Jiraiya on their back. The group start to charge at them, this time not looking so beautiful as they are before, being covered in injuries and dirt. The hooded figure stands at the bank as the horse gallops back to her.

The hooded figure then takes them out with just her bare fists. A few of them only manages to get back up after the assault.

"As brutal as ever," Jiraiya replies, sitting cross-legged and putting a finger on his chin, in thought. The figure didn't reply to him as she knocks the rest with just one swift and solid white kick.

"Did the Queen ask you to do this?" She asks, Jiraiya nods as he climbs down the horse who is munching onto the sweet apple Jiraiya is offering." Yeah she said that you're the one who told her to," he replies." Urgh but apparently you can't handle mission with kunoichis in tow," she replies and walks ahead." Ah! Don't include that in your report!" He exclaims and rushes to keep up with her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Any comments are welcomed, I do have spelling check but Tense or Grammar wise, I might have some error so bare with me
> 
> If you see any mistakes, feel free to tell me in the comments

"This is awesome and all but I don't think I should be here any longer, pervy sage might be back any time," Naruto replies as they sit on a swing at the edge of a fenced hill, looking over the whole village, behind them a playground." Pervy sage?" Isuna asks, eyes twitching, Naru nods and smiles," I'll take you back, but will you be able to return?" She asks.

"Mm... I don't know, on my travels with pervy sage I learn that schedules are overrated," he sighs." It's no matter of time," Naru beams," if you want to come back I'm sure you can," she replies. Naruto smiles and looks over the fence," This reminds me alot of my home village," he admits," the ramen here is also not bad," he adds.

"Then it's decided, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," she beams." Why would you want him to return anyway?" Isuna sweat drops," Isn't it better if he never returns? This village is suppose to be a secret, a secret!" She emphasises on the word." B-but I'm sure they would want him to see this," Naru replies.

Naruto sighs  _I don't get them at all... but it doesn't seem all that dangerous if it likes me_ "Well, I'm going," he adds. Naru nods and leads him to a bookshop, but this time it seem to sell tools for shinobis too. Naruto looks around in awe," I'm definitely coming back here," he grins as Naru shifts a few books away in a column, the books are empty, she then did some hand signs.

The empty space glows, much to the surprise of Naruto." Just go through here, I'll be at the same place tomorrow," she beams. Naruto grins back and nods," Cya," he replies and go through the light a little carefree. When his eyes cleared, he is back in the inn room.

* * *

"Is the preparations ready?" A low-pitched raspy voice, like one of a burdened man asks." I can't say, even after a few clues I can't seem to crack their barrier," the tallest woman from before replies, looking in tact and not at all injured despite it being on the same day. But then there are no one else around but her.

"Then we'll have to lure them out," a pair of aurora lights like eyes turns to go deeper into the shadows." Soon, we'll reach our true form," he replies as his figure completely disappears.

* * *

"From the looks of it they don't know how to go around the barrier, only targeting teams that go out of the village from the scenic route," the hooded figure replies. Maya looks at the scroll in her hands and nods," looks like we have nothing to worry about after all, but if we keep using the wisdom route..." she replies.

"I doubt they can master the technique in such a short period of time," she adds, Maya smiles," you don't have to wear the sphere uniform when we're in here, it's quite safe," she replies, a habit of hers to change the subject." Pardon my bluntness but people change over time, just one cleansing bath won't change the possibility of compromise.." she adds, playing along.

A another hooded figure, the hood and cloak being green stills unlike their peers at her words.  _She... does she actually know? No, she might be referring to the guards outside..._ her posture relaxes a little  _seriously, these NPOs are really dangerous...._

"Well I prefer to believe in my subjects than doubt them, it makes being right sweeter," Maya beams. The hooded figure dips her head and stands," I know," she replies and bows before leaving. The extra guards are confused except for the one who didn't move, because to know is to take the liberty to actually research in here with all the secrecy and tutors.

Jiraiya's leg taps the ground rapidly like an excited puppy as he peaks through the holes between the wood in the bath house, mist surrounding him.

"As playful as always Jiraiya-sensei," the previously hooded figure says, now with dark blue sandal with bandages covering her leg beyond her matching pants, a gray jacket covering a light blue undershirt and thin gloves shoved into the jacket's pockets and yellow hair with blue eyes, looking a lot like a certain boy and also looking like a guy but from her voice it is apparent that she is female. She leans against the wall.

"Mm, as silent as always," Jiraiya replies and pries his eyes away from the space." Unlike your brother," he replies. She turns away, expression neutral. If you don't know, that's Ann, she is a hidden leaf shinobi, what's more confusing is that she is not a missing nin, nor is she staying at the village.

Oh and she is the sister of Naruto.

* * *

_15 years ago..._

"I have a mission for you," Hiruzen replies to an ANBU member with a plain white mask with thin and curved eye holes that looks a lot like a ghost." There has been reports of suspicious activity in the land of fire, I need you to investigate, bring information back to the village," he replies.

Ghost knows that there is no questioning the Hokage retired or not, but as she accepts the mission and the scroll, she can't help but ask why is Sandaime the one giving her the mission. Especially when it was near her mother's due date.

But she also always knew that she is a tool for the village ever since she became a jonin, to be used by the village by which ever they see fit. She pretend to not notice the smile Hiruzen gives her and body flickers away.

Before leaving, she passes by the memorial stone.

"A new mission?" Kakashi asks, Ghost takes out her mask and smiles, revealing a very young Ann, her hair untied and slightly shorter." Dad gave you a break?" She smirks." Highly unneccessary," Kakashi replies as he doesn't look up from the gravestone.

"Dad can be very dense when it comes to relationships," Ann snorts in the trees. She remembers the time when she practically begged her father to let her join the ANBU when she found out Kakashi was one. The girl practically chased after him every morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised after reading Ann Shippuden, I made my characters not serious enough, so I'm putting the carefree and funny personalities at the childhood parts but with recent plots, I'll make it more serious and emotional


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something that isn't exactly related to the story but just know that even if I'm trying to make this series more serious, doesn't mean that I want to be the best
> 
> I just feel it'll be more natural and realitsic and more Narutoish
> 
> I've been doing that to my other stories as well, having an actual goals and plotlines, I might note some music you can listen to while reading too
> 
> Obviously Naruto songs lol, if this were to be in the anime, I'd say the opening would still be Yura Yura, for this first scene I think Floating Dead Leaves or My Home will be nice to hear

"You're still too young, maybe the next few years," Minato replies." That's too long! I need to catch up with Kakashi!" Ann whines." What's up with you and doing everything Kakashi does?" Minato sweat drops as Ann tugs at his hair, childishly. Kushina sweat drops as she scrubs the table harder and faster, almost burning.

"You wouldn't understand dad, I just have to do everything better than him," Ann grumbles and tugs at her dad's cheeks." The people there aren't like the academy Ann," Minato replies slightly muffled by his cheeks being pulled," they won't applaude you for being very accomplished," he sighs.

"I'm not doing it for the applause, I just want to be Hokage," Ann pouts, showing mercy on her father by letting go and pumping her fist in the air, eyes sparkling," I have to beat every single genius in my generation so that even Danzo will like me," she pouts.

"Ability is not what he'll be amazed by," Minato mumbles." I can be dark too! Just give me an S-rank mission and I can complete it on my own!" Ann exclaims." Absolutely not!" Kushina abruptly exclaims. Minato and Ann jumps," y-you heard her..." Minato gulps.

"Then I'll take my team with me," Ann pouts," Sutibu-sensei is an ex-ANBU right?" She asks. Minato eyes widen before forcefully relaxing himself, seems like he didn't think about that." If it's with Sutibu and Sentarou then it's alright," Kushina nods." Sentarou?" Ann snorts." Looks like I'll have to look out for him again," she replies and goes to her room to prepare ahead for her mission.

Minato sighs," looks like she is hell-bent on being one," he replies, Kushina looks at him in worry," Our girl lacks the darkness... even so... I'd rather just she stay like that forever..." Kushina sighs. Minato smiles at her," you're really worried huh," he adds.

"Of course ya know!" Kushina exclaims as Ann closes the door then.  _Darkness huh..._ Ann looks at her team's picture and looks at the ground. She then opens the window and jumps out. From roof to roof, she continues till she lands into the cemetery. She looks at the grave she stops at,  _Sakumo Hatake_ she frowns closing her eyes and bows, then going to the blue gravestone where heroes' names are carved in.

_Rin Nohara_

_Obito Uchiha_

She looks at the Hokage faces and nods with determination as she zips away, leaving a very confused Kakashi in the shadows of the nearby trees. Kakashi looks from where Ann is then at his father's grave from afar as he stand beside the blue gravestone.

"I don't know what she is thinking about, Obito... but she reminds me a lot of you," He replies to the gravestone, who does not answer him.

* * *

"S-rank?!" Sentarou exclaims, he is a light brown messy haired chunin, because he is wearing a chunin vest." Are you trying to announce to the whole world that we're doing a very important mission?" Kouji snorts, he is a light black, slightly long (touching his shoulders) hair and golden brown eyes teen, the tallest of them all other than their sensei.

"What was lord fourth thinking..." Suitbu sighs." This was my idea, don't get in my way," she grumbles pointing to them. Sentarou eyes sparkles," Ann, you're so cool," he huffs, Kouji just lazily shrugs. Suitbu looks worn out already,  _three jonin and a chunin? Might as well make it four_ Suitbu thinks." Look Sentarou, this is serious, an S-rank mission is no playing around mission.

Sentarou grins," I'll be fine, Ann-chan will protect me!" Ann narrows her eyes," and you call yourself a man?!" Ann scolds. Suitbu's eyes are round and ghastly, hoping that this is actually a C-rank mission the Hokage just hid so that Ann and Sentarou would actually be present for the mission.

Technically B-rank but he was close enough.

* * *

Ann did a series of hand signs before the enemy even made their attack.  _Earth Style: Dirt Spikes_ spikes shot up from where they are in the bushes and they jump out and surround them.

Suibu frowns, they aren't at the designated location yet and there are enemies already. Sentarou grins as he tackles one and engage him into a taijutsu battle, while Kouji lazily dodges every attack thrown to him.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of them," Suitbu replies as he did a flash of hand signs.  _Fire Style:_ _phoenix flight jutsu!_ a fire attack, shaped as a phoenix crashes into a group of enemies." Go!" Ann exclaims as Sentarou and Kouji goes ahead.

 _Earth Style: Mud Wall!_ Ann did a jutsu before going to catch up with them. A few minutes later, they manage to reach their destination, Sentarou looking around in distain and Kouji rooted to the ground. They are in the village that they were supposed to protect.

"Took you long enough," a white haired and purple eye man huffs with a weird looking weapon at his side." I thought my fun was over before it even started," he grins." You bastard," Sentarou growls," Don't worry, I'm not so ill-mannered to live you out of the slaughter," he grins pointing his weapon at them.

"That's mangetsu..." Kouji mutters," Who?" Sentarou asks, Ann smirks," One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Mangetsu frowns," You seem happy kid," he replies." Don't get in my way," Ann mutters, Kouji and Sentarou stands behinds her and gave her thumbs up.  _They know me but underestimated me..._ Mangetsu's eyes twitch, he sighs and swings his weapon at her as she charges at him head on.

She body flickers away and with a swing, S _pirit canon!_ she easily pierce through his heart. Much to the shock of Mangetsu," you're the one underestimating us," she mutters before letting his body drop.

"C-cool! Great job Ann!" Sentarou exclaims, Kouji looks at her in shock did she just defeat the supposedly most deadly swordman in just one hit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The funny thing about Mangetsu is that his cause of death isn't really canon and a mystery but seeing as Suigetsu wasn't impressed I came out with his death myself lol
> 
> If it was revealed in a manga or game do tell, I'm too broke to buy manga and have a gaming console other than PC


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this flashbacks might be confusing but she is 11/12 (because she doesn't know her real age) when she is on this mission and this is when Kakashi first joined ANBU so Ann is 10 here which is a year before the Kyuubi incident
> 
> But she is a prodigy and her age gap between her teammates may be a little troubling, but Sentarou is 15 here and is only chunin, Kouji is a little better since he is a jonin and is the same age with Sentarou but he was just made jonin hence the worry
> 
> Sutibu is 35 and is ex-ANBU, where is his place in the sarutobi family will be a mystery but just know that I'm trying to make this as canon compliant as possible so I'm thinking Konohamaru's father, when his wife had Konohamaru, he either retired or died in battle
> 
> But it's entirely up to you, the reader and I'm not confirming this in case Konohamaru's father shows up in Boruto

"What happened?" Sutibu asks as he looks at the carnage around the village." We were too late sensei, we could only save a few people, they already left in terror," Kouji replies. Sutibu scratches his head, so much for S-rank mission, he didn't even need to be here. Among the civilian casualities, there are also enemy bodies, one he recgonises.

"Did she do it?" Sutibu asks." Yeah, one hit too," Kouji replies, but he sounded unsure." What is it?" Sutibu asks, in a serious tone, Kouji didn't seem to be fazed, not only because he was still thinking about what Ann did." Say, you trained with her right?" He asks, Sutibu shrugs," Sure, she did train with other masters too though," he replies.

Meanwhile Sentarou is following Ann to find survivors. Sentarou being all flustered and shy while Ann focus on the search.

"Do you know what nature types she has?" He asks." Mm, I've only seen her use Earth Style... but my father said that she she passed the academy with a Wind Style jutsu," Sutibu replies." Amazing isn't it? Two chakra natures at the age of 5," he adds.

Kouji frowns," Is three nature types possible?" He asks." It is but ...- wait did she use another chakra nature?" Sutibu asks," Well, I think so," Kouji replies," the attack seemed lightning style," he replies with a frown.

Sutibu shook his head and patted Kouji's shoulder as they go to find Ann and Sentarou.

"Um, we're out of the village borders now," Sentarou mutters." Go back, I need to be alone for a while," Ann replies as she continues walking, Sentarou stops and frowns.

Ann looks at the forest at a cliff with a worried expression on her face. She knew that her father didn't trust her to hold her own in an S-rank mission, even so, just now when she killed Mangetsu... she felt something...different and powerful.

She sighs, shaking the feeling off as she returns to the ruins of the village.

"Looks like our mission is a failure, looks like I'll be seeing you all for extra training," Sutibu replies." Eh? It's not our fault sensei, the enemy came here earlier than expected," Sentarou whines," No, we shouldn't have taken our time to reach here," Kouji sweat drops.

Ann sighs," whatever, can we go back now?" Despite what she may have felt just now, it certainly won't get her into the ANBU now. All of them didn't protest as they make their way back. Before Ann could leave however, Sutibu stops her." Can you meet me at the training grounds at 5?" He asks.

"Sure, but why only me?" She asks." They are not as advanced as you are," Sutibu replies, Ann then understood what he meant." Alright," she replies and walks home.

* * *

Ann puts on her mask as she leaves the village and without a sound, leaps from tree to tree. It was night when she reached the destination, reminding her of that exact same mission.

The village she is near at is burning,  _the enemy must be still here_ she thinks as she searches for the cause. But to no avail, not saving any of the villages,  _because that is not my mission_ Ghost reassures herself and goes to search at areas near the village.

The final part where she search for is at a lake. Her figure stiffens as she notice that the lake is frozen.  _Near a fire?_ Ann thinks and almost didn't dodge a lightning attack aimed at her. She threw herself into the bushes, trying to conceal her presense again.

"Don't bother, now that I've seen you, I can remember your scent," a woman replies. Ghost didn't move or make a sound, but her legs are braced so that she can move any time. Which is a good thing she did because she pushed herself off the ground as shurikens lodge themselves at where she was standing.

"What's wrong? Too scared?" The woman taunts as a few more shurikens are being thrown at where Ghost is, she quickly tries to make her escape but she was met face to face with the perp. Black silts meet onyx irises, Ann didn't even form a hand sign and make a snake sign.

 _Earth Style: Quicksand Jutsu_ the woman leaps away from where solid ground becomes falling mud. Ghost ready to make a run for it but stop before she could run into an earth wall.

"I thought ANBUs are supposed to be skilled," she yawns. Ghost disappears into a huff of smoke and from behind the woman, she has her katana out and swings at her. Only for the figure to also disappear, in an instant, Ghost's kick is met with solid hands.

"Who are you?" Ghost asks," It doesn't matter, you will soon learn my name, but not from myself," she grins, well at least it seems she did, hard to tell from the mask and hood she is wearing." But I know who you are, you're that prodigious daughter of the yellow flash, Ann Namikaze," she replies.

Ghost perks up in surprise but quickly blocks the attack from the woman.

"You haven't been as famous as the copy-ninja kakashi aren't ya? But maybe if I leave you alone you'll also make a name for yourself," she replies, Ghost's head moves a little," but sadly, that won't happen," she replies as she actually manages to push Ghost away.

The woman did a series of hand signs, Ghost is observing carefully only to recoil in surprise,  _what kind of hand seals are those?_ she thinks as she takes a step back, ready to do a mud wall if neccessary.

"Planetary Cleansing!" Ghost croutches a little and did her hand signs as a beam of white light emits from the woman's hands.  _Earth style-_ the light was faster than her hand as it engulfs her and the entire world.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Ann is 11/12 when the second part happened, whether that is important will be up to you

"I can't wait to learn more!" Naruto exclaims," Say who is this pervy sage you keep on saying?" Isuna asks, then a figure looms over them," Isuna, what are you doing? Didn't you see the signal?" a boy about the same age as Isuna asks, he has brown hair tied in a pony tail and black eyes, he is wearing a purple turtle neck and dark green pants, he also has black glasses on, like Isuna he is wearing a matching pair of gray sandals and a red armband at his right while for Isuna is at her left.

"Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I'd go but Naru-sensei told me that I needed to how this guy around more," Isuna sighs." Why?" he asks. Naruto tilts his head, Isuna shrugs," Oh yeah, Naruto, this is Katsuaki, my teammate," she replies." Ah, Naru-sensei is going to kill me..." Isuna sweat drops.

"I'll take it from here," a woman with light black long spiky hair and black eyes replies, Naruto suddenly thinks of Shikamaru." Ichigo-dono..." Isuna eyes widen and bows in respect to her, along with Katsuaki." Skip the formalities, you kids go on your mission with ease," she replies with a smile.

"Right," Isuna replies, all hesitation gone as she follows Katsuaki away. Naruto smiles to himself, Ichigo smiles when she notice that." Come now, I'll show you to the best sweet shop," she beams. Naruto eyes sparkles and follows her excitedly, Ann and Jiraiya almost walking towards him only for them to stop and make a detour.

"What is Naruto doing here?" Jiraiya asks with a frown." Don't worry, he is in good hands," she replies as she take a sip from her tea she ordered at a tea house, at the other side, it's the sweet shop where Naruto is tempted to spend a lot.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jiraiya replies looking at her, his tea untouched unlike Ann's.

"I'm not the same person as I was 2 years ago, I'm not going to waste my time like that..." Ann replies," ...when I could be doing something useful," she adds. Jiraiya sighs and looks ahead," he's not exactly doing as well as you then," he replies. Ann's hand flinches as she places her cup down.

They stayed in silence for a while before Ann nods and stands.

"Well, this will be something to keep him busy," Ann replies." I know of the chunin exams and I know that there is one more threat to the Kazekage and all of the jinchurikis," Ann adds." You knew?" Jiraiya asks in surprise." It's the group that once targeted Naruto," she replies, ignoring his question, Jiraiya's expression turns serious.

"If my prediction is solid, they are more than any one village can handle," Ann replies." After peace, the standard of shinobi has dropped, most of them are S-rank criminals," she adds. Jiraiya nods," but isn't what you're dealing with even more worse?" he asks. Ann huffs," they can't do anything now, not in front of their home villages, whatever they are planning, it's the small villages' problem," she replies.

"Ah, well that's what we get for being loyal to only our own village then," Jiraiya teases, Ann looks at the sky as the sun rises from the horizon." Though it's naive, Maya believes that peace can be uphold here for those who seek shelter from the violence and pain from anywhere, to think that it actually works..." Ann mutters.

"Really makes you hope for a future of true peace," Jiraiya finishes and Ann nods." I really believe in the prophecy Jiraiya-sensei, I'm probably not the one to make that choice... but maybe someday Naruto will," she replies.

Jiraiya smirks," From Minato's death I realized that all of my students will have to make an earth changing decision eventually," he replies. Ann blinks but her expression didn't show anything.  _All huh..._ she turns to him.

"Well, we better stop them before they can try anything," Ann replies as Jiraiya finishes his tea. Jiraiya sighs after gulping and grins," it's been a while since we're in a tag team," Ann smirks back as they walk towards the entrance of the village.

Naruto looks at the trees nearby with a frown," what's wrong?" Ichigo asks, a lollipop in her mouth." No... it's probably just my imagination..." he mutters.

In his core, he can hear a sound that suspiciously resembles a purr.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katsuaki is 12 btw...

"Let me go with you!" a girl's voice exclaims while Naruto is walking towards the village Jiraiya has told him to go before leaving again in the morning. He is pissed of course but that girl's voice snaps him out of his monologue.

"Isuna, here is not the place, return to the village now," a foreign yet familiar voice returns in a more shushed tone. Naruto frowns as he tries to remember where he heard that voice before and goes to the direction they are in with curiosity.

"I have a mission," she replies stubbornly, now that Naruto can see them talking, he did a double take, it's not only two people there.  _Isn't that pervy sage?_ Naruto thinks, he is beside a yellow haired guy who he realize was who he thought sounded familiar as she says," then return to your mission, instead of thinking of others, focus on that first," she replies.

 _Huh?! Isn't he a guy?!_ Naruto looks dizzy just thinking about it.

"Sorry to disturb you Ann-sama, we'll be on our way," Katsuaki replies, dragging Isuna away." Ah! Wait! Hijiri help meh!" she exclaims. A light brown hair boy with blue eyes sigh," It's not my fault you keep insisting on meeting Ann-sensei," he replies.

"Ann," Jiraiya prompts, Naruto has never heard him sound so serious and dark before, strict sure but this tone sounds like he is ready to kill someone. He gulps as the Ann woman and Jiraiya body flickers away.

"They probably sensed your presense," the one named Hijiri replies but it took Naruto a few seconds that he is not talking to his teammates.

"Is there an enemy here?" Katsuaki asks, Isuna strengthen her squirming, Naruto is about to leave when suddenly Hijiri is beside him with a kunai at his throat." Gah! Wait!" Isuna exclaims." Naruto?" Katsuaki asks as he locks Isuna's shoulder, preventing her from escaping.

"You know him?" Hijiri asks, Naruto gulps,  _I didn't even see him!_ Hijiri lowers the kunai." Not really, I think Naru-sensei invited him to the village," he replies.

Hijiri closes his eyes before landing onto the ground," this isn't the best place to talk, let's go back to the village," he replies." But the mission..." Isuna replies as Katsuaki loosen his grip.

"This is important," Hijiri replies and zips away, Isuna shrugs and leaves, Naruto and Katsuaki follow suit. Naruto can't help it, he is naturally curious, but they didn't go that far off. Meanwhile, a shadow tails them.

* * *

"Why are we at a toy shop?" Naruto asks, Hijiri walks towards a kids reading corner and his hand brush against a book before throwing a kunai pass Naruto and into a shadow. A pained sound can be heard and a body drops beside Naruto.

"Formation!" Hijiri exclaims and two of them steps back as a the group of girls pounces over him. Naruto froze in place as Isuna did a few hand signs.  _Fire style: flickering flames jutsu!_ Specks of flames shoot out from her mouth and zip towards them like a bullet. Hitting most of them, Katsuaki throws his kunais at the remaining girls.

Instead of a yelp, they hear the sound of wood breaking.

"That's..." Isuna eyes widen as the girls stood up as if they weren't hit or burning a few seconds ago and looks at them with broken hollow face which look very eeire." Puppets huh..." Hijiri mutters as he takes out a kunai and engulf it with sharp chakra.

"Puppets?" Naruto sweat drops, they look too realistic to be puppets." Aw you've broken our pretty faces," one of them pouts." Isuna!" Hijiri exclaims, Isuna nods and did a few more hand signs.  _Fire Style: dancing monkey jutsu!_ the floor below the puppets heat up from Isuna's hands making their feet melt into the ground.

Hijiri then pounces and swings his kunai just above their heads, causing them to drop lifelessly onto the ground.

"Puppet users are common in the Sand village aren't they?" Isuna asks." We can't immediately assume that," Katsuaki replies. They didn't react until the sound of body dropping snaps their attention to the entrance. Ann steps over a body," I see..." she says, more to herself than anything.

"Ann-sensei?" Hijiri asks." Sorry, this my mission has apparently clashed with yours," she replies and then looks at Naruto with a frown." Why do you have him here?" Ann asks." He has been in the village, I thought it was important to inform her majesty about it," Hijiri replies.

"No need, I'll take authorisation of his visits," Ann replies," let him be on his way now," she adds." I don't think that is neccessary," Jiraiya replies as he steps in." Don't you want him somewhere else?" Ann asks. Naruto stiffens a little, Jiraiya smiles," I'll be here longer than expected, if there is a puppet master of this skill attacking your village, you're going to have a ton of problems on your hands," he replies.

"What about your travels?" Ann asks, Naruto frowns  _how much do they know about each other?_ " It can wait," he beams. Meanwhile another shadow (more bulky it would seem) tsk at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Hijiri is 12
> 
> To clear up some confusion, the teaming system is different here since being a shinobi is completely optional here
> 
> Isuna and Katsuaki are still considered genin and is a team under Naru but Hijiri is a jonin and in their villages, jonin either defend the village externally or internally, be a jonin sensei (but he is too young for that), be a part of the underground squad or take on missions alone
> 
> Hijiri's case is a mix of the last bit and the 2nd bit, like Kakashi when he is jonin, he is team captain but Naru can sometimes join them on missions too but when he is genin and chunin, he belongs to Ann's team
> 
> Which may or may not be introduced in the future~
> 
> We didn't get to see Jiraiya and Ann tag team but maybe some chapters in the future we will lol XD


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The age difference between Naruto and Ann of 11 is uncanny I know XD but my younger sibling is 16 years younger than me so it's still managable than what I go through in real life XD

"Say pervy sage, when are we going to train more?" Naruto whines." Until we can settle this, anyway we still got a few months to spare, should be more than enough time," he sighs." And stop calling me pervy sage in front of them! You know how bad are you making me look?" He asks.

"Yeah, I bet you only said that because most of the jonin here are women!" Naruto exclaims," Ah! Quiet!" Jiraiya exclaims as Ann listens in outside, with an annoyed expression. Jiraiya pulls open the door to get some fresh air, in actuality, he knows that Ann is there.

"Shall I vouch for him?" Jiraiya asks," there is no need to, you know how Maya is," Ann sighs." Don't you want to talk to him?" He asks, Ann closes her eyes and look away." If I had never came back, I wouldn't have imagine that you'd turn out like this," Jiraiya sighs.

"Who are you talking to pervy sage?" Naruto asks as he steps out of the bathroom. Jiraiya startles a little at that," n-no..." he tries to think of an excuse but Ann doesn't bother to hide her presense but to the naked eye, no one can see her in the dark.

"Who is that?" Naruto asks, that confirmed his ability to Ann." Um... I'm just talking to some jonin of this village," Jiraiya explains," they enlisted me to help them you see..." he adds." Don't overestimate yourself toad sage," Ann smirks.

"You..." Naruto mutters, as if trying to remember who she is." Ann," she replies as she steps onto the balcony beside Jiraiya." You, you seem close to pervy sage," Naruto frowns, Ann looks surprise at that claim and smiles,  _still a kid huh_ she thinks." I guess I shouldn't let my guard down around him huh," she chuckles.

"Mm, well if he doesn't peep on you, you must be important or very powerful," Naruto tilts his head. Jiraiya looks at her in thought." Mah maybe both," she shrugs and then glances at Jiraiya and smiles," I'd love to test how the shinobi of konoha fares these days, wanna meet up tomorrow morning?" She asks.

"Are we training?!" Naruto exclaims in excitement. Ann thinks for a while," mm I guess you can say that if sparring is training to you," she replies." Yeah it is!" He exclaims, Jiraiya's expression turns serious for a split second before turning into a sad smile as Ann turns around, her eyebrow raises before giving him a reassuring smile." Cya then," Ann replies.

As she disappears, Naruto looks at Jiraiya in worry," don't worry, she'll be fine," he grins." I'm not worried about her," Jiraiya sighs. Naruto frowns and narrows his eyes," she is..." Jiraiya frowns, not knowing how to tell him that Ann is the daughter of the fourth Hokage and the previous jinchuriki of Konoha and an ANBU no less," ... an elite Jonin," he settles with that.

"No problem, I took on that zabuza guy, the something of the mist or something," Naruto grins, making Jiraiya even more worried.

Ann looks at the full moon with a pair of bells in her hands. This bell can be found anywhere, but these kinds of bell holds a special place in her memory.

_"What is that?" a very young Ann asks, as Minato holds out a similar pair of bells." Mm I'm going to test my team with this, I don't know if it's a little bit too complicated for them though," he sighs." How will it work?" she asks." They will have to try and take the bells from me, but I'm worried that Kakashi will win again," he sighs._

_"Mm why not instead of that, test them on their teamwork instead?" Ann asks as she hangs upside down from a branch." I think skills are too overrated anyways," she replies." Overrated?" Minato asks, Ann's expression turn deadpan," Uh, I mean since every other teacher will be testing the teams on skill, why not do something different?" She asks._

_"Mm, only you would think of something rebellious," Minato sighs." Well, if it's too repetitive it'll become too predictable," Ann adds as she tosses Kunais pass Minato, who almost went into a defensive stance until he hears the kunai hit ground instead of flesh." See?" Ann asks cheekily._

Ann smiles at that memory, ever since, Jiraiya secretly invited her for training. She closes her eyes and the moon is replaced by a rising sun.

"Have you ever done the bell test?" Ann asks, Naruto looks at her in surprise, sitting up from the ground where weapons litter the ground." How did you know about that?" He asks, Ann's face pulled into a grimance and sighs.

"That's too bad," she sighs not wanting to do the same thing again," then we'll have to do this the old fashion way," Naruto tilts his head," try to land a hit on me and you win, if you can't hit me by sun rise tomorrow, I win," Ann replies." Huh? Why can't you just teach me a technique or something?" Naruto whines.

"Techniques aren't all jutsus ya know? Besides some of my jutsus might not be compatible to your nature," Ann replies." Nature? Compatible? How would you know if I haven't tried yet?" Naruto asks. Ann looks at him in surprise," Ah, your sensei probably didn't teach you yet," she waves a hand," you should let them teach you when you go back," she replies.

Naruto groans, Ann smirks," alright alright, your time is already starting, you better start thinking of-" she starts before being cut off by a rasengan dispersing her shadow clone." Eh?!" Naruto exclaims, Ann snorts in the shadows as she watches him.

_Now... the real test begins, little brother..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These days I've been pretty free after having my tooth extracted lol
> 
> Though there is discomfort and pain, I get to rest most of the time so there's that
> 
> To distract myself I'll be making a lot and a lot of drafts for this and probably will post them very soon


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues the flashback in Chapter 6, at this time, imagine Naruto trying to find Ann under every blade of grass while she thinks back lol

Ghost leaps from branch to branch, deep in thought.  _The woman disappeared after that light... I don't feel any different, this is no genjutsu too... I better find some other place to find out what is going on..._ She thinks and lands onto a branch of a tree that is near a clearing.

In the puff of smoke, she transforms out of her ANBU uniform. Entering an infirmary, the doctor is a golden brown hair middle aged man, frowning as she goes to sit down.

"Tell me, where do you feel uncomfortable?" he asks, Ann reminds herself that this isn't Konoha where the doctors are better, but just in case..." I heard that you're the best around here, I was wondering if you can tell if something is wrong with me," she replies.

"No discomfort?" he asks, she shakes her head," I was hit by a flash of light, I checked for wounds but didn't find any, but it was near the leaf so I wouldn't know," she half lies. He nods and checks her pulse and mouth, she noted the name tag saying,' Toshiya' but didn't think much of it.

"Hm doesn't seem to be anything harmful," he replies after a while, Ann realize then that he stopped checking but she knows he is hiding something, she does a hand sign before he can react and use genjutsu to make him spill the beans.

Ann frowns in puzzlement as she leaves the village, she would go and check other doctors but the Hokage would suspect something if she doesn't return soon. She sighs and releases the transformation as she takes off.

Her eyes widen when she sees smoke coming from the village, in a flash, she is gone from a branch and now in front of the destruction. She looks around at the screaming villagers and bodies.

"This-" Ghost didn't allow herself to panic, she needed to focus on her mission first, she told herself and vanishes from a tree top.

"You did a good job, I knew that there was something suspicious about this whole incident," the third Hokage replies." Sandaime..." Ghost takes off her mask and looks him in the eye." What happened while I was gone?" she asks. Hiruzen's expression turn into regret as he told her what happened and her expression didn't give away the slightest hint of emotions.

"I understand," she replies almost robotically," I'll take my leave then," she adds, her hurry not suppressed as she body flickers away.

She sighs as she drops off her equipment in the ANBU locker rooms and was about to leave when she bump into her ANBU squad mates. They look at each other in confusion, which did not go unnoticed by her, but she is too occupied to stop and ask.

First, she went to the nursery, to see her baby brother and make sure he is safe. She then goes to the nurse and ask if she can take her brother home.

"Um... I'm afraid that is not possible, you can take him when he is old enough for the orphanage but..." the nurse replies." I'm a jonin, I'm pretty sure we can survive," Ann grumbles," um... what is your full name and registration no.?" she asks.

Ann narrows her eyes," I'm the territorial queen, I'm pretty sure you should recognize me miki," the nurse tilts her head," um... full name please?" she asks a little scared now, ignoring the glances from others, she replies," Ann Namikaze, my registration number was".

The nurse shuffles through papers as Ann lean against the counter, she wonders for a second where Kakashi and Guy are, normally at least Guy was there when Sentarou... Ann shook her head at the memory.

"Sorry there must be something wrong with the papers here... it seems to be blank-" Ann didn't hear the rest," you've got to be-" Ann starts only to be stopped by Orochimaru.

"Come child, you're better than that," Orochimaru replies, crept out by his presence which Ann didn't understand why. Sure Orochimaru is creepy but whenever she is with him people aren't so crept out.

"Orochima-" she starts but Orochimaru stops her." Not here," he mutters," be through would you? We'll be right back," he replies.

"O-ok," she replies and disappears under the counter and dumps a ton of papers onto the table as Orochimaru and Ann leaves towards the outside of the hospital.

"There is something wrong, the looks of the villagers changes too fast in one day," he replies," I think... I need to talk to the Hokage," Ann replies nervously." Why? I can help," he smiles, she knows he is trying to be reassuring but it really isn't working.

"I think it may have something to do with my previous mission," she explains, Orochimaru hums," well they are acting as if though I never taught you, could it be genjutsu?" he asks.

"Maybe..." she sighs and looks at Naruto agitatedly." Now, child, I'm sure we can pull this through together," Orochimaru replies, Ann forces a shiver down and smile at him," I better get going if I want to bring my baby brother home," she replies.

"Would you like to follow?" she asks, even Orochimaru's company would seem nice in this situation." Mm there is no need for that, why don't we get Dangos after this?..."

* * *

"Mm, this is troublesome indeed, all records relating to you are gone," Hiruzen mutters and sighs in resignation, Ann however did not give up." Let me take care of Naruto, I can take on a different name, be his caretaker, he'll never have to burden the responsibility of a jinchuriki, I even-" she adds but Hiruzen stops her.

"I can't, the village is planning to turn him into a weapon, if I assign a caretaker now, I'll upset the elders and gain the suspicion of Danzo," Hiruzen replies." Then let me have a name and a different home, I can look after him from the shadows," Ann insists." That I can allow but I'm afraid I'll have to resign you from ANBU," Hiruzen replies, Ann frowns, he adds," your ANBU squad mates won't recognize you, if you're going to have another name it has to be a civilian one," he replies.

"You can just assign me out of the squad," Ann replies, losing her formal position." That will be fine but I cannot allow you to intervene unless it's an assasination attempt from other villages," he replies, less formally now," Right," Ann beams." And no defending him from konoha civilians and shinobis, foundation is an exception," he replies.

"-but," Ann is about to protest when he shakes his head," I've already helped you as much as I can allow, defending him from trivial things like this is no different from a caretaker," he replies. Ann pouts and bows in respect," Roger and Thank you professor," 

 


	11. Chapter 11

Orochimaru is at the dango shop though not exactly eating at all, smirking to himself but the smirk fell when a shadow looms over him.

"Yo, Orochimaru! What brings you here?" Jiraiya asks, making Orochimaru hiss out of his sight but Jiraiya actually heard it." I'm waiting for my dearest student," Orochimaru replies with sweet venom.

"Anko? Isn't she taking the chunin exams?" Jiraiya asks." Of course you'd also forget her..." Orochimaru mutters under his breath, which, he also heard." Oh? Is it Ann? Doesn't she have a mission?" Jiraiya asks." For someone who isn't in the village often, you know awfully a lot," he teases or scold, Jiraiya can't tell even now. Orochimaru takes his chance to leave since obviously he can't do anything sinister in front of him now.

"You're not busy right? Good, take over for me will you," he smirks, that arrogant bastard. Jiraiya pouts as Orochimaru leaves, a few minutes and a few dangos later, Ann arrives with surprise evident on her face.

"Jiraiya-sensei? What are you doing here?" She asks. Jiraiya glances at the way Orochimaru went and sighs," Orochimaru had something urgent come up so he needed to leave," he lies. Ann snorts as she orders a plate for herself," you mean you chased him away before he could do something like test on of his experiments on me?" she asks in a hush tone that only a trained shinobi nearby can hear.

"How did you know that?" Jiraiya asks, expression serious." I didn't ask him to train me because he looked nice," Ann teases as her order arrives," besides, he looks awfully young and I don't think Tsunade showed him the trick to her transformation," she replies.

"You catch on fast, your father told you right?" Jiraiya grins. Ann's face fell a little," yeah... I'm glad Orochimaru-sensei wasn't the Hokage, I doubt he'd share such information with me," she sighs." Now now, Orochimaru ain't all bad, he used to be in a team with me remember? My kind heart must have rubbed off him to take you in as a student," Jiraiya grins.

Ann chuckles at that as she munches on a dango, looking at the stick, the two dango on the stick almost looked like foreshadowing whenever she thought back about it.

"None of my friends will remember me will they? This isn't a genjutsu is it?" Ann asks, Jiraiya sighs, he had only just heard it from the Hokage office when he was about to meet his teacher for a little heart to heart but he guessed it wasn't the right time." This has to be some forbidden technique or kekkei genkai that only some people know," she sighs.

"Do you think Orochimaru did it?" Ann asks looking at him with big, blue, sad, puppy dog eyes. Jiraiya exhales loudly, steam coming out," if it is I'll beat him up for it and undo it!" He exclaims and charges to where Orochimaru disappeared to. Ann finishes up her dango and seats idly onto the bench, calm and instead think about what kind of alter ego she will get.

She didn't need to think when she pick up a random transformation when Guy and Kakashi walks past the Dango shop in funeral outfit. Guilt was the last thing on her mind as Guy's eyes met hers for a few seconds before he looks away, Ann can't stop looking at him though. She really didn't see any recognition in his eyes.

She looks at her reflection through her tea.

Since then, she did have an alter ego, a bookshop owner down the street near her brother's future home. She also got to keep her ANBU equipment in the shop and got an apartment nearest to the Hokage's office. She was wondering about missions when one day, a silver-haired jonin walks through the shop, looking for a book to read.

Her jaw would have dropped if she wasn't good at hiding her expressions as he picks out one of Jiraiya's book... the wrong type.  _I told him he should put warnings on the front page!_ Ann exclaims internally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mm idk if I should make a story where Orochimaru gets Ann to join him, I have many ideas for alternate universes that you can check in my works lol
> 
> So many ideas! Not enough time to write them all!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Focus back to the present XD

Naruto frowns as he looks at the forest and gulps as he tread onto the grass carefully. He yelps as he trips over a wire and his shadow clone disappears but Ann is also nowhere to be found.

 _Wind Style: Gale palm!_ Naruto didn't see the attack coming as it hits him from behind." Woah!" he shrieks as he lands onto the bush.

"What's the matter? I thought Jiraiya's students should be smarter and more powerful than this?" Ann asks. Naruto grunts and makes the hand seal for the shadow clone jutsu.

Two clones attack Ann while the original used the distraction to regain his bearings but Ann easily knocks them out with a hand.

 _I learned that challenges are a way to get stronger, I wonder, will you see it that way? Or would you be arrogant with power?_ Ann thinks as she charges at Naruto who has a rasengan ready.

Ann counters with her own rasengan with just one hand. Theirs clash but Naruto was lying on the ground as Ann is left standing.

"If it is the other way round I would have already won," she replies to Naruto who stubbornly pushes himself up, that is to be expected after all, she knows of what her parents wanted for her little brother.

"I'm not finished yet," Naruto replies as he makes a thousand shadow clone, Ann remembers the first time he did that, she also remembers the chunin exam, she was there in both after all. So the sight didn't exactly amaze her at all.

The shadow clones all charges at her, with only her hands and feet, she knocks them out.

"Rasengan Barrage!" Naruto exclaims, Ann looks up from the shadow clone she just knocked out and only blinks at the shadow clones coming at her with tons of rasengan.

Ann did a few hand signs, _Earth style: cracked hail_ rocks from the ground flies and shoots at deadly precision and takes out all of the shadow clones.

Kunais flies towards Ann at another direction only to hit a substitution. Ann knocks the remaining shadow clones out and faces a slightly out of breath Naruto.

"Man, you remind me of Kakashi-sensei for some reason," Naruto replies, Ann looks surprise at that, of course she knew that Kakashi is his sensei, she had even take her eyes off Naruto just to see him and even gave him his missions.

"Kakashi of the sharingan is your teacher? Now that is a surprise," Ann lies, Naruto grins in pride." So you know him?" Naruto asks, Ann wanted to say,  _of course I do,_ but now the title of rival goes to Guy," Kind of, I've heard stories of him," she replies.

"What a surprise," he repeats ironically," with such an enclosed village, I wonder how you guys ever know anything that goes outside," Ann smirks," we do missions and live outside the village too you know," Ann adds," and this village is an open one, I wasn't always here," she replies. Naruto looks at her in confusion," I was once a hidden mist shinobi," she lies again.

"Hidden mist?" Naruto asks," Yeah, Naru is from the hidden rock, Isuna is from the fire temple and Ichigo is from the hidden sand, I don't know about the rest but most of them are from other villages too," she replies, technically it's half lies and half-truths." There is a hidden sand shinobi here?" Naruto asks, Ann also knows he made friends with the current Kazekage too but it doesn't seem like Naruto knows.

"Yeah, she abandoned her village when the village started being too underhanded," Ann replies, remembering the cause of the professor's death." But the hidden sand is not like that now, I'm sure of it," Naruto replies in determination. Ann smirks as the sun lowers without waiting on the poor kid here.

For his benefit," oi, time is ticking, you've got less than 12 hours," she replies." Ah! You distracted me on purpose!" Naruto exclaims. Ann sweat drops," that is the point kid," she teases," enemies will try to distract you from your actual goal," she replies, adding a little more of a serious tone, making Naruto's expression turn serious too.

"But never stray from your path, ever," 

* * *

Naruto pants as weapons littered around the training ground, along with craters from jutsus they shot at each other. Even Ann was a little out of breath, only a little, she looks at the rising sun.

"Your time is up it would seem," Ann replies," I'll say, you almost scratch me back then," she adds." I was so close," Naruto groans and pulls himself up," If only you had dodge to the right," he pouts.

"There are many 'if only'-" Ann mutters and stops when Naruto looks at her curiously. Ann's cheeks color a little," anyway, I hope after a few sessions of these you can see the benefits of training like this," she replies.

"Yeah..." he mutters, distracted," neh, you wanna finish that sentence?" he asks, the color on her cheek darken a little," I-it's nothing," she replies, on the contrary she wanted to tell him so badly.

"Mm, you're saying there are many 'if only's in the world right? But we have to make do with what we have or something like that?" He asks with wisdom she didn't know he has, she then remembers Sasuke and nods, putting her hand into her jacket in a stance that really resembles Kakashi.

Naruto looks at her with awe as the sunlight highlights Ann's figure.  _Could it be.... is she actually from Konoha?_


	13. Chapter 13

"Can you go through it?" a shadow asks," Like I said there is nothing there, un!" Deidara grumbles, Sasori looks bored as a clay bird flies back to Deidara," Why are we here anyway? You know we are an criminal organisation right? We don't do little things like finding villages, un!" Deidara exclaims," You don't get it, this village is key to infinite power," the figure explains," Like I'll believe that," Sasori snorts and then leaves.

"We are taking your money too," Deidara replies with a childish tone. The figure grits his teeth and steps out of the shadows, an unnaturally blue haired man and red eyes reveal." Stop right there," he replies darkly, Sasori itching with anticipation of a fight. He makes a ram hand sign and a white light envelops the forest.

Ann eyes widen at that sensation as she looks over at the side of the village. As Naruto is peeking over at the windows at the sight of a silver screen.

"Sorry kid, I'll have to take you back," Ann calls," Hm why?" He asks," I've got things to do today," she replies." Is it a mission? What kind of mission?" Naruto asks, eyes sparkling. Ann chuckles and places a hand on his head, his hair feels like his mother's," it's a common mission among all shinobis, I have to go protect the village now," she replies.

_"It's a common mission among all shinobis," Minato smiles at a pouting Ann, behind her is a sweat dropping kushina." To protect the village," Minato adds._

Ann leaps upon trees and did a few hand signs and passes through a pond and out to the other side of a pond. She leaps past a sleeping Deidara and Sasori and glares at the source of the chakra burst.

"Oh? Looks like the territorial queen is here," he snorts, Ann knew that it is considered a joke in her childhood to most people but she took pride in that name. Because at this very time she can take him out using just the territory here. But... that is not the problem, since she is being 'wiped from the face of the earth' no one should know that." Who are you?" She hisses, anger boiling." Ah, you must have sensed whenever the techinque is being used because it has been used on you isn't it?" He mocks.

"Tell me, who.are.you?" Ann asks, eyes flashing, her eyes take a different pattern, the reflection of the eye fading and the blue taking a gradient from dark to light and a five sided star in the middle like an azure light." Mm those are nice eyes," he replies, Ann grits her teeth and in a flash a spike of earth shoots out and almost grazes him.

"Don't talk as if you know anything!" Ann exclaims and with just a single hand sign, a foreign one, she places her fingers on both hand against each other and a wind-like attack in the form a shuriken (a lot similar to the rasenshuriken but with no rasengan) and shot it at him.

It grazes him and exploded on impact, shaking the earth. Ann growls and lunges for the man who barely escaped a fatal injury. In heightened form, the man could barely stand against Ann's taijutsu.

"Why?!" Ann exclaims," Return their memories!" Just a heavy kick sends him flying into multiple trees and through a rock, the man is already half dead yet he is still smiling. Ann looms over him in a second with dark eyes glaring at him. The man frowns as if just remembering she said something.

"Ah, fortunately... I'm not the one who stole everyone memories of you," he replies, chuckling and coughing at the same time." It's a c-clan jutsu you see," he adds, Ann takes out a kunai and coats it with sharp chakra." Then tell me who did," she growls, he chokes in reply," y-you'd... urgh, be more interested to know..." he struggles to say his words but seem to manage to find his voice.

"... who I am..." he finishes, Ann's expression turns darkly indifferent," if you're not going to tell me then you're useless to me," she replies turning around, expression dark, not bothering to finish him off as punishment." I am... Hoshi... Kaito," he sighs, Ann stops and eyes widen as he breathe his last breath.

She turns around too late as his upper body slams onto the ground in a pile of crimson. Ann galres at the body one last time before setting fire to his body so that no one can steal any secrets from him. But the problem was... he is supposed to be long dead...

* * *

"Could it be edo tensei?" Jiraiya asks as Maya, Ann and himself seat in a modern-looking meeting room." No, the Hoshi clan secrets are heavily guarded here, they have been for centuries now," Maya replies." The Hoshi clan?" Jiraiya asks, Ann raises an eyebrow at Maya.

"He is your sensei, Ann, he can be trusted," Maya replies confidently." Uh I'm flattered and all but if it's something I shouldn't know you better keep it to yourself," Jiraiya replies.

"No," Maya squeezes her hands in front of her and stands up to look out of the window where the village's forest is." The Shinobi world has been fueled by hatred for many generations," Maya replies," it's time we change our tatics," she adds.

"We?" Jiraiya asks," This village was made by three clans, the Hoshi, Miya and Zora clans," Ann explains." They always lived together in harmony, seeing eye to eye, equal in strength and respect," Maya adds," they created this village in hopes to promote peace among other countries, but of course it was never that easy," she sighs. Ann shouldn't be surprise that they are telling Jiraiya everything now, when she first came here Maya also told her everything.

_"Why don't you follow me on my travels?" Jiraiya asks, Ann looks at the village from the Hokage mounuments and sigh. Jiraiya grins," it can't be that bad, besides, how long can you keep this up?" He asks." As long as I have to, there are ANBU missions like this you know," she replies._

_"Yeah but your senses will dull and you'll never learn anything from just being stuck here watching people," Jiraiya replies. Ann hugs her legs together," Are you saying I need to get stronger?" She asks." Not that you need to, I mean you're pretty powerful already," Jiraiya snorts," but I sense greater potential in you, even greater than mine, tsunade or orochimaru, even your father," he replies._

_"What makes you say that?'" Ann asks, Jiraiya smirks," believe it or not, what you did was unheard of, a genin at 4, chunin at your first try and that was when you're only 6 and jonin at 8, I'm pretty sure no kunoichi has ever reach your level," he replies. Ann looks at the academy at the distance," Kakashi has already begin to know top secret village stuff, I wonder how that will go when I'm a civilian now..." she sighs._

_"Well what about the secrets of the world?"_

Ann remembers that line very clearly, that was the line that persuaded her to travel around the world after all and actually find this secret village.

Or did it actually find her?


	14. Chapter 14

"It must be here," a hooded figure mutters as he walks through an empty plot of land, completely empty, without any life at all. He lift his hands as a heavy gust of wind surrounds him." Tch, it'll take ages, I guess I have to lure them out," he mutters as he did a few hand signs.

 _Star Style: Earth burial!_ The earth shakes, in the outside it seems that no one can feel it, but somewhere... in a dome of mist and barriers, the earth only shook a little in the village but it already raised an alarm in it.

"What was that?" Isuna asks, Hijiri lean against a tree as Katsuaki looks up with Isuna. On the other side, Ichigo, Ann and Jiraiya perks up at that," Looks like someone found the barrier," Ichigo replies. Ann looks at the sky and a raven soars and circles around the middle of the village.

"Jonin and Sphere, come on," Ann urges and three of them disappears. Naruto sleeps in his bed, not fazed by anything, in fact, most of the villagers aren't panicing due to most of them already turning in for the night or drunk.

"This is a code red, I sensed kekkei genkai outside, I suggest not letting your guard down," Maya replies. Hooded figures lines up in a tidy manner, Ann, Ichigo and Jiraiya the only jonin there." Scatter!" With a word, they all body flickers away. (If you're wondering why Jiraiya is considered a jonin there, just know that the hidden star is accepting anyone from other villages or places including shinobis, most of their teams are made up of shinobis from different places even the Spheres which is like their ANBU)

Jiraiya, Ann and Ichigo observe from afar as the Spheres squad takes the lead into subduing the intruder.  _Isn't that only one person?_ Ichigo thinks as she tilts a branch out of her line of vision.

"Finally, you came out to play," the man mutters," this may be easier than I though," he grins, from his view he can't see anything but he seems to be able to pinpoint them behind the small hills of sand.  _Star style: Sand Burial!_ The Spheres in hiding had no choice but to move from their hiding place as the sand moves to bury them.

"Aw, this must be the super elite squad, I was thinking the kage of this village," he grins, pulling down his hood.  _ **Kaito, don't mess about**_ the low-pitched, raspy voice replies into an ear piece in Kaito's ear." I know that," he mutters and did a few hand signs but one of the Spheres attack him before he can make his final sign, underneath the hood, a blue masquarade like mask and another silver mask that ran over their mouth and chin area, brown dark eyes met red ones.

"Oh?" He smirks at the Sphere as they don't stop their attack." You're the first to actually not falter at my beautiful eyes," he teases." The fear of the sharingan is irrational," she replies robotically." Oh? You're actually quiet smart aren't ya?" He grins, she did not falter even after that retort, his grin turns sadistic.

 _ah, sorry master, I just have a weakness for these kind of people_ Ann clenches the leaves beneath her." Looks like it's not edo tensei, he is bleeding like a normal person," Jiraiya mutters." I say we lure him here," Ann mutters, keeping the anger out of her tone." I faught him before and finished him, there is no way he came out of that alive, even so he seems not fatally wounded," Ann replies.

"What is he?" Ichigo mutters," Ichigo-sensei, could you give the intel to Maya for me?" Ann asks, Ichigo nods," don't go too far," she warns before leaving. Ann sighs, Jiraiya says nothing but it's clear in his expression that he is somewhat puzzled.

The sphere attacking Kaito suddenly backs off and the spheres who are already in a circle around him simultaniously did the same hand signs and chains shoot out from their hands and wrap themselves around kaito.

"Heave ho!" One of them exclaims and they fling him towards where Ann and Jiraiya are, where they are is on a giant tree, Kaito seems to regconize it and quickly takes out a sickle and throws it on the ground, the blade digging into the earth and the chains loosening as he lands onto the ground.

The tree roots however starts to move and aims to attack him, he did a few hand signs in fluid and quick motion,  _star stye: mini meteor jutsu_ out of his hands small meteors shoot out and breaks the roots until he was far away from the tree. Ann and Jiraiya lands onto the ground near the tree, perfectly fine.

"I see, there is really Hoshi blood still alive in this era," Kaito mutters which is picked up by Jiraiya and Ann." I don't know what is your goal here but I suggest you surrender without any fuss," Jiraiya replies." Not that I can take on one of the legendary sannin," Kaito adds as if finishing what Jiraiya was thinking." Yes yes, I'm way out of my league," he says and with a swipe of a hand, a smoke bomb covers the area.

Jiraiya quickly makes a hand sign and the sand becomes muscle as it struggles to cover the smoke but Ann hears the movement in the sand and chases after it, Jiraiya leaving the technique and quickly following her. The sphere members rooted to their spot, a command from the Queen to return and they body flickers away, one looking at the direction of where the two went and follows suit.

Ann did a few hand signs and with the surprise of Jiraiya, concentrated lightning forms onto her palm,  _star style: lightning cutter!_ The blade goes straight into the heart of Kaito who doesn't look like a dead person. But Ann came prepared and place a seal plague onto his forehead. Kaito's eyes widen as he struggles to move.

"Ann," Jiraiya mutters, Ann jumps a little before turning around, hiding her surprise." What was that?" He asks, Ann looks away and takes out a scroll, with a few hand signs, Kaito's body is sealed for the second time into the scroll," It's nothing, anyway, we can safely interrogate him like this," she hands him the scroll.

Jiraiya didn't push the matter as he takes the scroll and leave, because he knows that she'll tell him. There was no reason not to anymore now that he has seen it, Ann looks at her hands and sighs.


	15. Chapter 15

"How long has it been since you've been here?" Ann asks, Jiraiya raises an eyebrow, Ann ignores that by stuffing her face with ramen. Jiraiya hums and grabs a pair of chopsticks," Mm, around 13 years ago... I think..." Jiraiya replies.

"During that time what do you think I was doing?" Ann asks as she picks up a fish cake." But last I checked you have the wind and earth elemental chakra only," Jiraiya replies, Ann chews on the fish cake." Don't tell me you've already learned a third element," Jiraiya mutters.

"Well you can say that," Ann smirks," but it's not the lightning element," she adds." Then what element was that?" Jiraiya asks. Ann tilt the bowl as she finishes the soup, Jiraiya sweat drops as it is revealed that she already had two bowls.

"It's something out of this world if I were to be honest with you," Ann smirks, there was a tense silence between the two, well until she ordered another bowl, Jiraiya sweat drops.

* * *

"I suggest you cooperate so that it'll be less painful for you," Ichigo replies. Kaito smirks," now that I'm here, there is nothing you can do to stop me," Kaito smirks as he tests his bindings, only for it to restrain him even more. He looks at the chains in confusion.

"There is no point in struggling, any attempts at escape will only lessen your chances to," Ichigo replies, he grits his teeth as he tries to do a hand sign only for his bonds to tighten, earning a small grunt from him.

"Now, speak, who do you work for?" she asks, Kaito chuckles," I just don't need to say anything now do I? If the Miya clan is eliminated, all that's left is a bunch of weak cowards," he grins. She glances at the Sphere who is behind Kaito, making him a little nervous.

"So, you know of the founding clans then," he replies." Don't hold back," he says to Ichigo, she nods hesitantly." Ha, if you're really from home then you would know we are immune to any kind of torture," he replies.

"Who said that we are from this village?" he asks, Kaito frowns and his words fail to process as Ichigo makes a rat hand sign. He didn't turn away as Kaito starts to scream in a not so manly way, neither did the other spheres in the room.

Ann places her empty bowl aside, seemingly surprised as if she just remembered something but Jiraiya thinks it might be something else.

"When was the first time you saw me exactly?" Ann asks, Jiraiya tilts his head," what do you mean?" he asks." I mean, do you know me when I was just an infant?" she asks, Jiraiya hums in thought," uh... I forgot," he replies sheepishly," I do remember your first training with me though, you used to be terrible at chakra control and genjutsu," he grins.

Ann smiles at the memory," then do you remember when my mother became pregnant with me?" she asks. Jiraiya frowns," is our memories actually a little chipped?" Jiraiya asks, Ann shook her head.

"It make sense that you wouldn't remember when, not only were you traveling, kushina was never pregnant with me," Ann replies, the air seem to still around them, though they technically cannot hear them, the customers at the side is already uncomfortable they started leaving.

Jiraiya and Ann's eyes stare at each other, unwavering, suddenly, he sees something in her eyes shift.

"Let's talk outside," Jiraiya replies. Ann nods and stands," you're paying though right?" she smirks, Jiraiya smiles, at least she isn't that hung up about it." Yeah yeah," he snorts as he fills the bill.

"Jeez," Naruto chuckles, Isuna tilts his head," you look a little suffocated," she frowns and then nudges him to the side of the crowd," never peg you for a loner type," she grins." Nah, it's just-" Naruto starts but is interrupted by Katsuaki and his friends," hey, you're missing out," he replies.

Behind him, five more people follows, they already introduced each other. They reminded Naruto of his friends as most of them belong to a squad too. A blonde short hair girl with purple eyes looks very bored and scary but what he saw earlier she must be hiding her joy, her name is Airu Arashi, the older sister of Hijiri. Kind of weird to see them together with the same friends but they didn't seem to mind and is pretty close together.

Beside her is a dark blue hair boy who looks like he can run away at anytime, his blue eyes always on the ground, hiding behind another boy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes, he looks older than the rest, the shy guy is Yoshiharu Takamoru and the older guy is Isan Taketori. He learned that Yoshiharu can be rather talkative when it comes to ninjutsu and Isan is still a genin, which makes him feel more better about himself.

The black hair boy with sunglasses reminds him a lot of Shino, except he seem to stand out more and has a cat on his shoulders instead of insects, his name is Rinon, he doesn't remember his surname with makes him even more mysterious. Beside him is a blue haired boy, one eye covered, his other eye is green which makes him weird looking, but he seems to be nice to talk to, his name is Kanta Hanada.

Naruto smiles, he realised that he had miss his friends a lot more than he thought.

"It's nothing really," he says to Isuna," I'm just worried about Ann-san that's all," he grins." Why? It doesn't really matter, Ann-sama is very strong," Isan replies proudly as if she is his mom or something." She's with Jiraiya-sama right?" Isuna sighs," don't worry, he won't go far in term of flirting," she retorts, the very bored looking Airu suddenly gain interest in the conversation. Placing a lean hand onto Isuna's shoulders, she grins like a chesire cat.

"I heard that a lot of male jonin falls head over heals over her, they'll stop him if neccesary," she smirks, Naruto sweat drops kind of like the girls at the academy whenever he tries to fight Sasuke. At the thought of that, Naruto's expression falls a little.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are the kids from the previous chapter's ages
> 
> Airu: 13  
> Yoshiharu: 11  
> Isan: 16
> 
> They literally didn't graduate at the same time as their classmates lol, but Isan is a repeater, Airu repeats but not as bad as he is and Yoshiharu is around borderline
> 
> Rinon: 13  
> Kanta: 13
> 
> They are classmates with Airu but she got held back, you can say they are both above borderline
> 
> No worries the next arc will focus on backstory but this is just to give them a little mystery and surprise when they... ... well, you'll see X)

"No contact, he hasn't return," the low raspy voice replies, nothing can be heard or seen, except for a rhythmic noise that sounds a lot like water. Only after it seemed like eternity, did the water stop and the air shift, as if parting for the person speaking.

"All according to plan~"

* * *

"Pervy sage! Teach me a new jutsu!" Naruto exclaims. Jiraiya sighs in exasperation," if I had a yen for everytime you say that I'd buy myself a castle," he replies.

"You already have enough money to buy one!" He exclaims.

"You're being very loud," Jiraiya snorts.

Naruto huffs and drops onto the bed.

"How long are we going to be here anyway?" He asks.

"Why don't you hang out with the brats outside? We'll be going as soon as the enemies here are taken care of," he replies.

Naruto groans," why do you care so much anyway?" He asks as he takes his sandles and walks out of the door, not bothering to close it. Jiraiya sighs and closes it for him,  _Oh Naruto..._ he walks to the window and sees Isuna and Naruto meet up and walk into the street.  _If you know who I'm helping you'd be staying here longer than I intend to..._ his expression a little dark.

He remembers what Ann told him the previous night, he wouldn't want to believe it. It's not like he can ask Minato now about it...

"What are we doing today?" He asks.

"We have the weekend off, so we're going outside to play," Isuna grins as they meet up with Airu, Isan and Yoshiharu." Just us?" Naruto asks, a little pouty," Looks like you're not a loner after all," Airu smirks." Well Katsuaki has to help out his family, the others are on a mission," Isuna explains.

"Maybe we'll bump into them," Isan grins," today we'll just let the book case send us wherever it wants," he replies." You can do that?" Naruto asks in awe," The Queen is the one who adjusts the transportation, it's capable of many things," Isuna beams, she idolized her when she grew, known to be the best queen throughout the generations.

"Yosh, let's go," Isan replies and goes to the nearby library. Naruto only seen the outside but he didn't see the in and is starting to be glad of that decision." Since when are libraries this grand?" Naruto frowns. Isuna grins," The Queen appreciates literature and knowledge, she can't lose to anyone after all, a leader makes the correct decisions and-" most of them aren't listening to Isuna's rant but that made Naruto intrigue by the Queen.

 _She is like the Hokage then..._ Naruto thinks, they then go to the back of the library where the books are plenty. Isan takes the liberty to do the signs and use his chakra to open a door. He stands aside to let the girls go first before cutting in front of a pouting Naruto and all of them walk through the light.

Their feet touches pebbles and the sound of water running reaches their ears. Naruto looks around in surprise and looks back at where they came from, just pebbles it would seem.

 _I don't get how this teleporting works..._ Naruto grumbles internally. Airu looks at the reflection of the river and looks pleased, from the clarity or her looks Isuna doesn't know, Naruto grabs a pebble and turns to Isan.

"Wanna throw pebbles? See if it can reach the other side?" Naruto asks. Isan grins," you're on," he replies and casually jogs to the other side." I see you've learned walking on water quiet well," Naruto nods as if he was the elder one.

"It's call chakra control," he snorts, Naruto tsks back as Isan picks up one. Isuna starts forcing Yoshiharu to sit and relax while Airu pulls out a light pink lipstick." One, two..." Isan and Naruto says together," Three!" Naruto's pebble skids across the water, Isan's shot all the way across the other side not touching the water.

"Oi, what-" Naruto starts but he stops when he notice someone dodge Isan's attack and come out of hiding. Yoshiharu squeaks and hides behind Isuna who stands up, tense. Isan smirks," sorry but I couldn't pass the chance to bring out our stalker right here, were you looking at Airu?" He asks, cracking his knuckles.

Airu huffs," it's inevitable, after all I am a lady," she replies haughtily and stands.

 _Don't encourage him..._  Isuna sweat drops." What, you're all kids," the man in a cloak snorts, he sounds like the raspy guy from the shadows, he probably had a sick day because his appearance matches a young man with perfectly healthy black hair and black eyes. He dresses a lot like a Iwa shinobi though.

"Got a problem with that?" Isan growls. He chuckles," if it were anything else I would have loved to test my inventions on you but I'm not that cold hearted you see, I just need a few adults from where you were," he simply shrugs.

Naruto perks at that, a feeling of dread clouding over him.

"We are all chunins except for the konoha brat, don't underestimate us," Isan snorts." Konoha huh... brings back memories," he hums." You're from Konoha?" Naruto asks." Well used to, anyway you better get out of here kid, I have business with these kids," he replies.

Naruto shook his head," They are now my friends, so I'm sticking to them, ya know," he replies. He shrugs," your funeral," he replies as he takes out a crossbow from his cloak and multiple arrows shoot out of it. Yoshiharu did a few shaky hand signs out of instinct," Mud wall!" He exclaims and a surprising sturdy wall of rock blocks the arrows.

Naruto charges ahead after doing the shadow clone technique.  _Woah that is a lot of clones_ Isan thinks as he does a few hand signs.

"Naruto! Surf's up!" He exclaims as he finishes the last of his signs,  _Water Style: Tidal Push Jutsu!_ the river behind him turns into a gush of water as it floods the land. Naruto, already got the heads up, had his clones surfing on the water, the man however did not see it coming and was caught off guard and did not defend from the barrage of Narutos tackling him.

Isuna grins and is about to move towards Isan when the woman from before leaps towards her with a katana in hand.


	17. Chapter 17

"I really hate fakes," Airu grumbles and takes out a foreign looking weapon and with a defeaning bang, the woman falls onto the ground in front of her. Yoshiharu looks palely at the body until she pushes herself up.

"As advance of a puppet you are, you're still made up of material and not flesh," Airu replies as she stands up fully with a hole where her heart should be at but the hole is dark and hollow. Naruto looks at the scene," What did you attack her with?" He asks curiously.

"It's a weapon I made myself using Magnet Style," Airu replies proudly twirling the crossbow gun mix weapon in her fingers." Magnet Style?" Naruto asks, Isuna smiles," It's a special trait that only her family has," he explains. Naruto eyes sparkles," what about my family?" He asks.

"Mm," Yoshiharu stares at his hair, then into his eyes, making Naruto take a hesitant step back." You're no pure blood, none of the clans I recgonise has your style, maybe you're part Namikaze or Arashi clan, but they haven't got any special traits," he rants and continues even as the woman lunges at them only for Airu to shoot her with one hand rapidly.

The pellets that her weapon shots out returns into the weapon, giving her infinite reload. The woman tsks but relaxes at the sight behind them, Yoshiharu cuts his rant short and squeaks as the man behind them stands up with a groan.

"Yusei-sama," she greets. Airu frowns wondering where she heard that name before." Not bad kid, I didn't think that someone would take my inventions and further improve it," he replies as he dusted himself, Naruto noted that he didn't look very ruffled as if his rasengan never hit.

"Ah! You!" Airu exclaims." You know him?" Isuna, Airu shook her head," I've only heard of him in stories but that's Takeshi Yusei, one of the best blacksmith in ages," she replies," I don't know the details but he died generations ago," she adds.

"T-then-" Yoshiharu gulps," Are we fighting ghosts?!" Naruto exclaims. Yusei chuckles," not exactly," he replies," I am dead, but I am very solid," he pats his chest." Alright whatever, what would someone like you want with our village?" Isuna asks.

"Funny how you say your village, I heard that the village is taking anyone from anywhere right?" He asks." They don't exactly have their own people now do they?" he asks.

"T-that's not true!" Yoshiharu exclaims, Isuna, Isan and Airu seems shock at that out burst but Naruto just smirks at that." It does't matter which village you're from," Naruto replies, Isuna, Airu, Isan and Yoshiharu turns to him." So long as you feel a strong sense of protectiveness and love, where your family and friends are, that's where home is," Naruto grins.

Airu smirks," such a sweet talker," she cooes. Yusei smirks," well that is why I didn't need you kids, just tell me where your squad captain is and I'll allow you to go home in one piece alright?" he replies." We came here out of our own accord," Isuna replies.

"Then you're no use to me," Yusei smirks, Naruto narrows his eyes," but we can't just let him hunt any of the senseis," Yoshiharu mumbles.

"That won't be necessary, you might as well go back," Ann replies, they jump and looks at where the woman was standing, but what remains of her is just shredded wood." Not a chance, I wanna test out my training after all," Naruto replies with a smirk.

"You underestimate me," Yusei growls and the group of girls leap out from the rivers and bushes along with a few other, more obvious puppets." T-that's," Yoshiharu squeaks and hides behind Airu," - yeah overkill I know," she grumbles.

Ann takes out a kunai and throws it at the bunch of them only for one of them to spit out a flail and knock the kunai away. She did a few hand signs,  _Wind style: invisible turbulent_ sharp wind breaks one of the female puppets who is being used as a shield. She didn't make a sound as her body parts hit the ground, only for it to clumsily put itself together but still lying on the ground.

That sight made the kids hesitate because she looks very human. Ann, however is used to killing, so she did the same jutsu over and over again. Splinters fly everywhere, Ann brings a kunai down the temple of the last girl that wasn't in pieces.

Yusei takes a hesitant step back and two more weapon based puppets appear in front of him.

"Horrible," Isuna mutters, Naruto grits his teeth," Sorry Ann-san but can I take them down? It just pisses me off that someone can use someone as life-like as them as shields," he replies, Ann shrugs off a chip of wood without saying anything.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever you think appropriate 'Emergence of Talents' plays here

"Horrible," Airu mutters, Naruto grits his teeth," Sorry Ann-san but can I take them down? It just pisses me off that someone can use someone as life-like as them as shields," he replies, Ann shrugs off a chip of wood without saying anything.

Naruto's shadow clone with a rasengan appears behind one of the puppets that looks like a 8 eyed lizard with a bladed tail, said tail wraps around the shadow clone's hand and flings him one side. Yusei's fingers twitch, Ann didn't miss that slip and takes advantage of that and seemingly teleports beside a puppet that looks like a panther and breaks it.

Ann frowns as the broken piece of wood pushes against her, she uses her other hand to slice the shield out of the panther's wooden paws but despite it being detached, the shield still goes up to defend the panther, the other puppet, who looks like a 6 legged person in a barrel pounces on her only to be shot away by Airu.

 _Water Style: Water Trumpet!_ Isan drowns the lizard puppet only for it to leap and use the water to ski towards him, Naruto knocks it aside with his fists and wince a little but it knocks aside, a wooden part of their face chipped.

It recovers pretty fast though, with a swing it sends Naruto flying. Ann goes to help him but is blocked by the enemy's reinforcements.

"You must be a jounin from that village, well I'll be taking you then," Yusei replies as tons and tons of puppets surround Ann, a few attempts to move her away from the kids but she stands her ground and counters all of them with ease. Yusei tsks and does the other way round, knocking Airu and Yoshiharu across the river.  _Fire Style: Phoenix Fire jutsu!_ Isuna manages to hold her own at least.

"Airu! Yoshiharu!" Isan exclaims, it gave Yusei an opening to knock him towards them too. Naruto didn't follow them though.

"Hmph were you holding back in our 'training'?" Ann asks, Naruto smirks," Nah, for some reason, fighting with you instead of against you makes me excited," he replies, Ann looks shock for a second before smiling.

It was like a familiar dance, one they should have done a long time ago. Ann blocks an attack from the puppet and flings it to Naruto who uses it to knock a bunch out, looking out for each other, Ann throws a kunai at the puppet who almost got Naruto on the back while Naruto uses the rasengan on a puppet who had it's mouth open, interrupting it's attack.

"Woah," Isan mumbles as the army of puppets gradually decreases, not seeing the Lizard, Isuna did a few hand signs:  _Fire Style: Flaming Trumpet_ _Jutsu!_ a wave of flames burn the puppet into ashes before its blade can reach him

"Nice one!" Isan exclaims," Alright, I can't lose too!" he grins," that's my line," Airu grins and with a few hand signs, she raises her hand and the panther puppet float into the air, she takes out two pistols and shoots until there is nothing left but the tail and half a body.

Isan and Yoshiharu sweat drops at that display of power while Isuna just smirks.

Ann gestures to Naruto, who move to her as his shadow clones take care of the puppets. She places a hand underneath his with the rasengan which glowed green.

"It should last more now, Imma throw you," she replies," Osu!" Naruto grins as Ann swings his around, breaking the nearby puppets and toss him into more huddled crowds of puppets. Yusei looks like he is in trouble, his army reduced to bits and his famous creations too.

"Looks like I've underestimated the children's power, now I won't hold back," Yusei growls and his cloak flies, revealing metal armor and something else entirely." Is that-" Isan starts with disgust in his expression." He turned his body into a weapon," Airu finishes for him.

Smoke emits from underneath his cloak, filling the area, Ann can sense chakra and so can Yoshiharu but the other four can't exactly do that yet. Ann blocks a blade from her face but Isan yelps and ducks, the blade scrapping his forehead.

Airu hears that sound and quickly takes out a piece of cloth and ties it around her neck. Yoshiharu is near her so does the same thing, except he ties it on his forehead, tightening it, the plate of his headband clear unlike the smoke covering them.

A blade attacks Yoshiharu but knocks onto his headband, an earth hand grabbing onto the blade and not letting it go. Yusei grunts as he tries to retract it. Ann looks at where Yusei is at and charges towards him, in a single hand, a rasengan appears, catching the attention of Naruto and crashes into the metal armor.

The armor dents but that is as far as it goes as a leather arm grabs her and flings her away, the rasengan however cleared the smoke. Naruto looks very motivated and excited, looking at where the rasengan landed. Airu uses her dual pistols to try and further dent the armor but to no avail.

 _Water Style: Water Bullet!_ Iran did a few hand signs and spits out a giant waterball.  _Earth Style: Mud Bullet!_ Yoshiharu backs him up. Yusei stumbles back but his armor didn't take any damage.

"Aim for the-" Ann calls but is interrupted by a vine grabbing her from the back and tossing her back. Isuna frowns," There must be a weakness," she mutters,  _Fire style: Fire Blanket Jutsu!_ her fire style jutsu covers the armor from head to toe in flames before he gets the chance to counter.


End file.
